Clare O’Donohue - The Lover’s Knot

"Of course you did," Bernie said.

Jesse moved toward Nancy. "So you stabbed him."

She closed her eyes. "I thought he was going to kill me."

"Nancy." I looked to Jesse, who turned up the sides of his mouth, into what might have been a smile under happier circumstances. "I think you caught Marc putting the money back. I think he knew through his cousin that you were selling quilts in the city, and he knew your husband. Since he wasn't gambling it away, Marc must have figured you were hiding it somewhere. And what better place than in the shop."

"That's why he wanted to do the remodel so badly," Eleanor gasped. "I thought he was changing, I really did."

"I think he was," I said. "I think he found the money in the wall and gambled with it. If he had lost, who knows what would have happened. But he won. And I guess he decided to put your money back."

"But he had almost as much money as I hid here," Nancy protested.

"Most of it was his winnings," I said quietly. I could see Nancy was about to fall apart. "The rest was still safely tucked in the basement. When Bernie mentioned something about keeping her money in different accounts, I don't know, it reminded me of a twenty dollar bill in the office. Money that Eleanor couldn't account for. I thought if you were hiding money it might be safer to hide it in a couple of places."

"We found six thousand dollars hidden inside Eleanor's fireplace, " Jesse said.

"You found that?" Nancy looked at me. "It's my money. I put it there. Where is it?"

"I have it," Jesse said. "Where's the rest? Where's the money Marc won?"

Nancy pointed to a box on the floor. It was addressed to her youngest son at college. Jesse opened the box. Inside was a large simple quilt that crinkled when he picked it up. He hesitated a moment and then tore at the seam. With some effort, he'd pulled a block apart and inside was a wad of cash.

"I couldn't risk getting money orders, or someone would have mentioned it to my husband," Nancy said. "He's a good man. He can't help himself. But that money is for my kids."

"Of course it is, and they'll get it too," Susanne said. She wrapped her arm around Nancy.

"Marc was doing the right thing?" Maggie's face was frozen, but tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"He came toward me with a hammer," Nancy said almost to herself.

"Did he have it raised up?" Jesse asked, raising his arm to show her what he meant.

Nancy shook her head. "No, but I thought…" Her voice trailed off.

"He had such a terrible reputation," Bernie offered quietly. "Any one of us would have been afraid of him."

But Nancy didn't seem interested in any comforting words. "I'm so sorry. I guess I robbed him. I didn't mean…" She grabbed the quilt tighter around her, and then just let it drop to the floor.

"I think," I said softly, wanting not to speak but too caught up to stop. "I think Marc grabbed Grace's quilt thinking he was leaving us a message."

Eleanor looked at me. "What message?"

"I kept telling him that if those quilts got dusty, Nancy would kill him." I stopped, looked down. I didn't mean to use those words. "I just kept telling him that Nancy would be upset if those quilts got dirty. He must have thought they were all her quilts. When he grabbed one, he must have thought…"

I was looking at the floor, but out of the corner of my eye I could see Eleanor nodding. Nancy had her face in her hands and everyone else was stunned into silence.

"I guess I can get that quilt back to you pretty soon, Mrs. Cassidy." Jesse's voice was low and it seemed almost as if he would cry.

Eleanor was already crying. "It's not important."

Jesse took Nancy's arm. "I'm going to take you down to the police station now, Mrs. Vanderberg. Someone here should call you a lawyer."

I looked at Jesse. "Isn't it kind of self-defense?"

"Maybe. Just get her a lawyer."

Maggie took Natalie's cell phone and called one of her sons. "He'll do it for free, or he'll regret it," she said as Nancy and Jesse walked out of the shop.

I'd gotten so caught up in following clues that I hadn't thought about where it might lead. I walked out of the shop and stopped Jesse and Nancy.

"I'm sorry," I said to Nancy. Jesse let go of her arm and she gave me a long hug.

"If you can get my quilt bag for me and bring it over to the jail, I'd like to do some hand sewing tonight." She smiled weakly and I nodded.

Jesse and Nancy walked across the street and turned a corner toward the police station. Inside the shop, I could hear the women creating a plan of action to help Nancy. I didn't think they would want me there, so I started to walk to the river.

"It's over with me and Amanda." I saw Ryan walking toward me and I stopped.

"I don't care," I said wearily. I really didn't care, and that saddened me. "What was wrong had nothing to do with you or Amanda."

"Then let's fix it."

I shook my head slowly as if it weighed fifty pounds. "The women here, they have these things they call UFOs. Unfinished projects. Sometimes you start something and in the middle decide it isn't worth finishing. The trick is not to get stubborn about it. If it doesn't work, you have to let it go."

"I don't know what that means," Ryan stammered.

"I do."

I took one last look at the face I had loved for so long, then turned and walked away.

"Unlock the door," Eleanor directed me from her spot at the register.

"It's not seven o'clock yet."

"Are the girls out there?"

I lifted up one of the quilts that blocked the picture window. Outside I could see Maggie, Natalie and Susanne. Bernie was holding a plate and chatting with someone I couldn't see.

"They're out there."

"Then open up the door." I did as I was told, opening the door of the new Someday Quilts for the first time.

"Finally," I heard Maggie say.

Each woman walked into the shop in single file. After they had all entered, Jesse walked through the door. He smiled shyly at me and I smiled back, just as shyly. Then he looked around the room, just as the others were doing. After the initial wows, everyone turned in a complete circle to take in all the changes. Gone were the overstuffed shelves and baskets of quilt tools. There were now three aisles of fabric, arranged by color, that made a sort of rainbow effect. On the back wall books, tools and threads were organized and hung securely.

I led them through the opening into what had once been the run-down diner. Now it had specialty fabrics, an office, a bathroom and classroom with a large rectangular table. On the wall above the table were three quilts-one made by Eleanor, one by Nancy, and the repaired quilt made by Grace, the woman who had taught my grandmother to quilt.

"Just as it should be," Susanne said, almost in a hushed tone.

"This is where you can have your meetings," I said, waiting for the applause.

"But we won't be in a circle," Bernie frowned. "Why can't we meet in the other room like we always did?"

Each woman mumbled something in agreement and then dragged a chair from the classroom into the original quilt shop. After they had arranged the chairs in the same circle as they had in the old shop, everyone sat down. Barney took his place in the middle, going from woman to woman for a pat on the head.

"Change is good," Maggie said sternly. "But tradition is good too."

"Well, you'll have plenty of both with Nell helping to run things." Carrie smiled at me.

Jesse looked at me and I shrugged. "She's signed up for art school over in Peekskill," Eleanor explained.

"Part time," I explained. "I'll help out at the shop the rest of the time."

"Well, it's cause for celebration." Bernie unwrapped a plateful of pecan squares and set them on the counter. "God knows we need a little something to celebrate."